The rain pelted gently outside the window.
Flames danced wildly in the gas furnace, mesmerizing me with their magic spell. A few feet from the gas furnace lay a full-length mirror, beautifully reflecting the skipping flames.
“Trade places with me,” my fiancé said.
Feeling blissfully content, I resisted the urge to ask why.
“Look at the flames in the mirror.”
I did.
“Now look directly at the flames.”
Again, I did as he suggested. Only now, I saw what he saw.
As I looked at the flames, they appeared to dance in a random, unordered, and spontaneous way. Yet when seeing the flames in the reflection, I saw an ordered pattern. Two different pictures of the same thing.
Life’s situations are not always as they seem. After years of reflection, we can often see the pattern behind the “why” demanded in the rearview of life. God works on a beautifully ordered, perfect tapestry, yet we only see the haphazard, random strokes of thread on the backside.
Even Jesus, God’s Son, asked why He was forsaken by His Father as He hung upon the cross and died a cruel, torturous death.
God had no more forsaken His son on Calvary than when we, adopted sons and daughters in Christ, feel abandoned during our difficult seasons. God is working out bigger plans that require faith in what we cannot see and understand—plans to be revealed in God’s perfect timing.
As we can see the difference in an ordered pattern of reflection, we will grow in our Christian walk to know and trust the divine pattern God has ordained for our lives. The rearview is not meant to hold us captive from present and future opportunities. Yet reflecting on the past can reveal God’s omnipotent design toward a beautiful future.
Are you reflecting on where God wants to take you?
(Photo courtesy of pixabay.)
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Manndi Maphies DeBoef works at the UMKC School of Pharmacy and as a freelance writer in her spare time. Her greatest passion is being a mom to her two rambunctious, creative, and endearing sons: William, age 10, and Waylan, age 8. Her sons never fail to provide daily entertainment, which inspires many of her writings. She also loves to write about everything from being a single mom and dating after divorce to finding lasting love later in life, overcoming the devastation of miscarriage, and losing a loved one and starting over. Her pieces are lovingly filled with inspiration, encouragement, and always a touch of humor.